CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — It was an amazing ride, but Baldwin Wallace's 2022 baseball season has come to an end.
The Yellow Jackets were eliminated from the Division III Men's College World Series on Saturday with a 6-5 loss to Trinity (Texas). Seventh seeded BW had fallen to Eastern Connecticut State on Friday, meaning the team could not lose again if it had any hope of reaching the championship series.
Just like the opening game, the Jackets (37-13) were ahead entering the sixth inning, leading 5-4 on the strength of two RBIs by Brunswick native Alex Ludwick. Tyler Pettit tied things up with a solo homer to left, then in the seventh, bullpen ace Drew Wilson out of Solon appeared to get out of a jam when he stuck out Evan McDonald swinging. However, the ball went all the way to the backstop, allowing McDonald to advance to first and extend the inning while Nathan Braulick came home to score what proved to be the winning run on the wild pitch.
BW brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, but Harrison Durow struck out Bijan Kamalipour to end the game and keep sixth-seeded Trinity (38-12) alive in the tournament. The Yellow Jackets actually jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the start of the game, but RBIs by Braulick (two), MJ Mertz, and Jack Wisniewski got the Tigers back in it.
Unlike its first World Series appearance in 2014, Baldwin Wallace went without a win in the eight-team double elimination bracket. Trinity will battle LaGrange Sunday for a trip to the semifinals against Eastern Connecticut.
